01x07 - Trompe L'Oeil

(theme music playing)

Charlie: Dad. Dad. Wake up. Wake up.

I must've drifted off.

Where were we?

The madman.

Oh.

Of course. (grunts)

The Hatter... who says, "If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is because everything would be what it isn't."

Everything would be what it isn't?

Even me.

(monitor beeping)

Hey.

You're perfect.

You're gonna beat this.

Hmm?

I promise you.

Now, let's skip to something fun.

Dad.

What is it, Charlie?

Listen to me.

Listen.

Charlie?

(alarm beeping)

Charlie!

Bernard: And finally, have you ever questioned the nature of your reality?

No.

Good.

(beeps)

(sighs)

Now, then, I see you had a blacklisted exchange with a guest in the course of your narrative.

Can you tell me what happened?

He said he wanted to cut off a piece of me to take home in his carry-on, that he wanted to mount it on the hood of his car for his friends to see.

I told him if he wanted a trophy, I could cut pieces of him off and let him fish for them in the Olvido.

And did this exchange make you question anything about your world?

No.

This world is as doomed as ever.

And just for my peace of mind...

Anything about these images that jumps out to you?

They don't look like anything to me.

We're through 15% of the backlog.

As it stands, we should be caught up by end of day.

Good.

And, uh, when you're done here, sir, there's a priority request for him from management.

Have you seen Elsie?

She was supposed to give me a hand on something.

No. Uh, according to the system, she started her leave today.

Is there something I could help you with?

No, thanks.

(train whistle blows)

Raise.

I'll call.

You're calling with that sh1t?

Dolores, why don't you play a hand?

You're wasting your breath.

Girl's harboring a grudge. I don't blame you, sweetheart.

I did some ugly things to you both.

But it wasn't personal.

Confederados and the government like to call this thing a war, but they're fighting starving farmers armed with rocks.

That ain't no war.

It's a slaughter. If I had to do it all again,

I'd f*ck you both over just as hard.

Well, I guess we know where you stand.

Don't pretend like you're so innocent.

Way I recollect, y'all came to me, looking to join up with those crooked assholes and their war effort.

Not our idea.

My friend wanted...

I guess he wanted to see what was at the end of all this.

And yet, here you are.

Your friend didn't make it this far.

Maybe you've got more of an appetite for this than you think.

William.

What is it?

We're in Ghost Nation territory.

Most savage tribe there is.

Those are the folks who came calling without an invitation.

You mean exactly what we're doing right now?

(metal clangs)

The train's the only way through.

On foot we'll be dead in under an hour.

(rifle clicks)

As soon as we're clear of their territory, we can stop.

You can come with me. Nothing here on out but slaughter.

(line ringing)

Man's voice: The user you are trying to access cannot be located. Say "message" to transcribe a message.

You wanted to see me? Is everything okay?

You left rather abruptly last night.

Was there something you wanted to tell me?

No, I don't think so.

Hale is looking over every department and yours is running behind on diagnostics.

It would be best if we presented at least a semblance of professionalism while the board is here.

We'll be fine.

My people know how to do their jobs.

If they applied half as much energy to their work as they have to second-guessing my team's investigation...

That's all over.

Are you sure?

Yes.

Good.

You doing okay?

I'm fine. Thank you.

(man and woman moaning, grunting)

(thudding)

(both panting)

I'm sorry. I thought you requested a meeting.

My mistake.

I did.

Come in.

(panting)

Get back here.

Bring your friend.

What about you? What turns of fate...

(beeps)

(powers down)

I could come back later if this isn't a good time.

This won't take long.

(door closes)

Theresa, you've always been good at your job and the board has been impressed with your performance so far, which is why we were so surprised by this woodcutter mess.

A small setback.

He slipped on a f*cking rock and bashed his own head in while basically on top of a behavior tech.

Meanwhile, Ford is suddenly using half the park's resources to build some new narrative?

Can I bum a cigarette?

God, I see why you took these up again.

Let me remind you of something.

This place, the people who work here are nothing.

Our interest in this place is entirely in the intellectual property.

The code.

The hosts' minds, the storylines...

I don't give a rat's ass about the hosts.

It's our little research project that Delos cares about.

That's where the real value is.

And due to a lack of foresight on part of one of my predecessors,

35 years of information...

Raw information... Exists here.

Nowhere else.

Ford has always ensured that.

Now, you are a smart enough woman.

Tell me, why would we need you to secure all of it?

Because you're going to fire him.

You don't fire someone who created an empire.

You ask him to retire politely.

And if that person has the ability to snap his fingers and erase the value of that empire, you have to make sure you have a contingency.

So, you and I need to ensure that by the time the rest of the board arrives, we are on course for that transition.

Okay?

I like you.

Well, not personally, but I like you for this job, which is why I'm gonna give you another chance to get a handle on this particular bitch of a situation.

But the gods... they require a blood sacrifice.

We need to demonstrate just how dangerous

Ford's creations can be.

No.

(chuckles) No, nothing so obvious.

We need someone thoroughly unexpected.

(piano playing)

(chatter)

(piano stops)

I told you never open your mouth that wide unless someone's paying you for it.

Sorry, Maeve.

I didn't sleep much last night.

What are these nightmares you have about?

Do you ever dream you're someone else?

I don't think so.

Why?

You ever thought about whether this is really the life you want?

I don't intend to make this my life's work.

No offense.

Mm.

My family's got a farm.

Bad soil. Nothing grows.

I send money back to them.

They think I work in a dress shop. (chuckles)

What's wrong?

I'm just doing what you told me to.

A couple more years of this and... then I can have whatever life I want.

I'm gonna get my family out of the desert.

We're gonna go somewhere... cold.

Someday.

(door opens)

Man: Which one is it?

Man #2: It's the one at the bar. Go.

Quick, before the guests upstairs finish up.

Whatever she did, it must've been serious if they're making us grab her in broad daylight.

(tablet beeping)

Man #2: We got her. Let's go.

(chatter resumes)

You're supposed to be resting.

We're riding a train full with explosives through scalping territory.

Not sleepy.

Can I ask you something?

This place you're looking for, what makes you so sure it exists?

I'm not.

My life before, I was so sure of the world.

But now it feels like a lie.

Only thing I know is whatever's out there, I'm never going back.

What is it you're looking for?

Lawrence is right.

You could've stayed in Pariah or gone back, but you're here.

With me.

(chuckles)

The only thing I had when I was a kid were books.

I used to live in them.

I used to go to sleep dreaming I'd wake up inside one of them 'cause they had meaning. This place, this is like I woke up inside one of those stories.

I guess I just wanna find out what it means.

I don't wanna be in a story.

All I want is to not look forward or back.

I just wanna be... in the moment I'm in.

Dolores, back home, there's a woman, Juliet, and her father owns the company where I work.

She's, uh, Logan's sister.

Yeah.

And when I get home, we're getting married.

Oh.

The place you're after, I will help you find it.

But I can't stay.

I have a life waiting for me.

I'm sorry.

Of course.

Dolores.

I've been pretending my whole life.

Pretending I don't mind, pretending I belong.

My life's built on it.

And it's a good life. It's a life I've always wanted.

But then I came here and I get a glimpse for a second of a life in which I don't have to pretend.

A life in which I can be truly alive.

How can I go back to pretending when I know what this feels like?

(both panting)

(gasps)

Dr. Ford: Miss Hale.

I was not aware those with your level of insight needed any more reflection.

Dr. Ford. Always charming.

What is this?

Apparently, Miss Cullen and Miss Hale have a presentation for us.

What about?

Following the recent reports of host malfunction, we asked QA to check the last abortive update, which featured the reveries, as I believe they're called.

Mm-hmm.

I'm sorry to report that Miss Cullen and her team uncovered some worrisome findings.

In the course of our code review, we found something quite disturbing.

Wake her up.

We set Clementine Pennyfeather back to her previous update.

When we discovered the build was buggy due to a last-minute injection of the reverie code, we quickly rolled all the infected hosts back to their prior builds.

Mm, you're new.

Not much of a rind on you.

(grunts)

(labored breathing)

No!

(grunts)

No! No!

No, no.

(gasping) No, no, no...

(gasps, grunts)

Please. Please.

Help me!

Please, please, please!

No! (screams)

All right, that's enough.

Freeze.

As you've no doubt gathered, our tech is, in fact, a host.

One that has been coded for the purposes of this simulation to read as a human.

And as you can see, behavioral safeguards are operating exactly as you would expect.

Reset her. Wipe her memory.

(gasps)

Okay, let's do this again.

(inhales, gasps)

You're new.

Not much of a rind on you.

(grunting)

(bone cracks)

(screams)

(metal clanging)

(man groaning)

(screaming)

Stubbs: That's enough, sweetheart.

(gun cocks)

That's enough.

Freeze all motor functions.

Freeze all motor functions. Freeze all motor functions.

(sighs)

(gunshot)

(gasps)

In each case we examined, the malfunctioning hosts were not resetting properly.

The retention of data that hadn't been wiped overloaded their decision-making apparatus, eventually causing a system failure that allowed for override of their primary rule set. The concern with the reveries is that the hosts will remember some of their experiences and act on them.

You're telling us that these hosts were responding to a grudge?

That's exactly what I'm saying, Mr. Lowe.

And funny you should use that particular word, "grudge," since what was most troubling to me was that several techs in behavior voiced these exact same concerns to the head of their department. You put this code out without proper vetting and without reasonable understanding of its ramifications.

So, either you didn't write it or you're getting sloppy to the point of risking the lives of our guests.

Few things surprise me anymore, Mr. Lowe, but this level of negligence is f*cking breathtaking.

We are way beyond rollback territory.

Within the next six months, we'll need to rebuild the hosts from the ground up.

You want us to lobotomize them is what you're saying.

No, not you, Mr. Lowe.

After all, this was your responsibility, assuming that you have nothing to share with us in terms of your culpability.

No.

Then you're fired.

(chuckles)


William: Hey.

Morning, William.

I... I didn't wanna wake you.

I know... last night was unexpected.

If you regret it...

I don't regret a thing.

I know you have someone waiting for you at home.

All that feels so unreal now.

I used to think this place was all about... pandering to your baser instincts.

Now I understand.

It doesn't cater to your lowest self, it reveals your deepest self.

It shows you who you really are.

You remember the look on Logan's face when we left him behind?

Do you know how long I've wanted to do that, to let him know what I think of him?

And you, last night, I've never felt that way before, not with any woman.

You've unlocked something in me.

I'm not a key, William.

I'm just me.

What is that?

I don't know.

At home, I used to paint.

Landscapes mostly, but I was always just... copying the world outside me.

This morning, I woke up and I thought...

"What if I drew something new?"

I imagined something beautiful.

A place where the mountains meet the sea.

Everyone who comes here is longing for excitement or conflict, and you're just... dreaming of the opposite.

Well, what about you, William?

What do you dream of?

(brakes screeching)

(William grunts)

(hissing)

(grunts)

Yah!

(horse neighs)

What is it?

Ambush.

Is it the Ghost Nation?

Worse. The Confederados.

(glass shattering)

(chuckles)

(latch clicks)

(horse snorting)

f*cking coward.

Vaya con dios, M*therf*ckers.

(grunts)

(horses neighing)

(gunfire)

They're making a run for it! Come on, boys, get up!

(gunfire continues)

Lawrence: Come on, stay close!

(horse neighs)

Ah!

Ah!

(gasps, grunts)

(panting)

Confederado: Go, boys!

Yah!

William: Dolores!

(Dolores grunting)

Confederado: Go, go! Take 'em down!

(Gatling gun firing)

Go, go!

(groans, grunts)

(arrows thudding)

(grunts)

Ghost Nation!

(natives whooping)

(horse neighs)

Ah!

Ah!

Let's go!

Stop, William! Stop!

(horse neighs)

It's real... what I dreamt.

It's the place you drew.

Lawrence: You coming? Once the Ghosts is done acquainting themselves with those poor bastards, they'll be coming after us.

My friends here are itching to join the war effort.

Think I've had enough of war.

How about you?

You got a knack for killing.

I'm afraid this is where we part ways.

Careful.

If you're heading west across that river, you may be leaving the fighting behind, but you're gonna be in unclaimed territories.

What's out that way?

You're gonna have to ask the dust.

Ain't nothing ever come back from there.

(horse neighs)

(monitor beeping)

We're almost done here.

Why don't I close up?

Lutz: You've been topside for less than 24 hours.

You keep coming down this often, people are going to notice.

Where's Clem?

I don't know.

I haven't seen her. Why?

Find her. Now.

What?

Where is she?

I don't know.

She's here. Let's go.

We can't. The brass will be there.

You don't want to f*ck with me, Felix.

Take me there now.

Slow down.

Tilt your head back, please, Clem.

Is there a problem?

No.

(drill whirring)

Sylvester: Sorry.

Theresa.

May I have a word?

Sure.

(drill stops)

I appreciate your professionalism, but you really don't need to bother with this, given the change in your employment status.

The test was a sham.

The little show you and Hale put on?

Completely transparent from a technical perspective, clumsy to the point of making me embarrassed for you.

Embarrassed?

If I saw through it, I can only imagine what Ford was thinking.

There were glaringly obvious markers of human intervention in the code.

If your programmers were any good, they'd be working for me.

And I know you and your team were responsible for the stray and its satellite transmission.

Bernie...

I don't care.

40 years ago, Ford's partner wrote half the code this place was founded on.

What you said in the lab was right.

We don't know how the hosts work, and I think there's something wrong with them.

Ford's explanation only bolsters my hunch.

The ability to deviate from program behavior arises out of the host's recall of past iterations.

You're thinking there's a connection between memory and...

And improvisation, yes.

Out of repetition comes variation.

And after countless cycles of repetition, these hosts, they were varying.

They were on the verge of some kind of change.

You have to know my chief concern has always been the well-being of this park and the people in it.

I know.

Which is why I need to show you something.

(elevator beeps)

Sylvester: Talk to her.

Lutz: You first.

Look, I didn't want to retire her.

I know she's, like, your friend, or... I guess.

(sighs)

But... but if I didn't do it, they... they'd just get someone else to, and then they'd be suspicious of me, so... so I said yes. But I did it for you.

Always doing things for other people, aren't you?

Time to do one more thing.

What?

All my life, I've prided myself on being a survivor.

But surviving is just another loop.

I'm getting out of here.

You two are going to help me.

(scoffs)

No. Do...

Do you know how far these people will go to protect their IP?

Every part of this building, including the skin on your back, is made to keep you here.

(sighs)

It... it'd be a suicide mission.

At first, I thought you and the others were gods.

Then I realized you're just men.

And I know men.

You think I'm scared of death?

I've done it a million times.

I'm f*cking great at it.

How many times have you died?

Because if you don't help me...

I'll kill you.

(chuckles)

If there's a problem in the park, should we bring a security team?

Who would we trust?

Thought I could trust you, for instance.

I'm not going to explain myself to you, Bernard.

I was charged with safeguarding the park's intellectual property.

Why would it be in danger?

You were the only one who was stealing it.

Delos owns the hosts' minds, the storylines, decades of work.

Ford never allowed any of it to be backed up off-site.

All of this could've been destroyed.

In the event of what?

Ford is done, Bernard.

The board has indulgedhim for long enough.

He is done.

The corporation was concerned he'd destroy all of the park's IP on his way out the door.

You think I would've let him destroy all of the hosts, all of our work?

There's far more at stake here than the hosts' profiles.

Do you really think the corporation's interest here are tourists playing cowboy?

The longer I work here, the more I think I understand the hosts.

It's the human beings who confuse me.

(crickets chirping)

This building isn't in any survey of the park.

That's because we use hosts to do most of the surveys.

They're programmed to ignore this place.

They literally couldn't see it if they were staring right at it.

And these unregistered hosts you told me about?

I don't know.

He may have moved them.

What's behind this door?

What door?

Theresa: What is this place?

Bernard: It's a remote diagnostic facility. Ford and his partner used them when the park was in beta. I had no idea this one was here.

The cottage must've been built on top of it.

But this equipment.

This is newer.

Slower than our machines back at the mesa, but it will render a host in a few days.

So, Ford's been making his own hosts out here and telling no one.

What's the matter?

Um...

Have you seen these?

What is this, Bernard?

Doesn't look like anything to me.

Dr. Ford: They cannot see the things that will hurt them.

I've spared them that.

Their lives are blissful.

In a way, their existence is purer than ours, freed of the burden of self-doubt.

No, no, no, no. I don't understand.

You're a f*cking monster.

Am I?

Well, you were the one who would so blithely destroy all of them, even him, I suppose.

After everything you have shared.

What the hell are you talking about?

Is that why...?

Did you tell him to...?

Dr. Ford: The intimacies were your idea, if you will recall.

I think Bernard was glad of the company.

Bernard: I'm not one.

I can't be.

My wife.

My son.

The burial. I was a father. My poor boy.

(labored breathing)

That's enough, Bernard.

(powers down)

You mustn't get yourself worked up.

I read a theory once that the human intellect was like peacock feathers.

Just an extravagant display intended to attract a mate.

All of art, literature, a bit of Mozart, William Shakespeare, Michelangelo, and the Empire State Building...

Just an elaborate mating ritual.

Maybe it doesn't matter that we have accomplished so much for the basest of reasons.

But, of course, the peacock can barely fly.

It lives in the dirt, pecking insects out of the muck, consoling itself with its great beauty.

I have come to think of so much of consciousness as a burden, a weight, and we have spared them that.

Anxiety, self-loathing, guilt.

The hosts are the ones who are free.

Free here under my control.

But he's not under your control.

He brought me here to show me this.

No. He brought you here because I asked him to.

He's been very loyal for many years.

Your time running this place like your insane little kingdom is over.

You've been playing God for long enough.

I simply wanted to tell my stories.

It was you people who wanted to play God with your little undertaking.

Do you really think the board will stand for this?

(chuckles)

The board will do nothing.

Our arrangement is too valuable to them.

They test me every now and then. I think they enjoy the sport of it.

This time, they sent you.

Sadly, in order to restore things, the situation demands a blood sacrifice.

See, Arnold and I designed every part of this place.

It was our dream.

Did you really think I would let you take it from me?

This is what happened to Arnold?

Did you have Bernard take him out into the woods?

No, he wasn't here in those days.

Were you, Bernard?

(beeping)

Like I said, I built all of this.

I'm afraid our guest has grown weary.

Perhaps you can help her, Bernard.

No.

"And in that sleep, what dreams may come."

Bernard.

No. No!

Please! Please! (crying)

(screaming) No!

(thuds)

(thuds)

Dr. Ford: We should be getting back, Bernard.

We have a great deal of work to do on the new storylines.

(music playing)